Mission Australias aspiration is to have appropriate housing and support for everybody in our community by 2020. A national plan Linking Support and Housing to End Homelessness will get us there. It will work across all levels of Government and promote local responses under a national strategy. Our approach is informed by practise wisdom and backed up by extensive national and international research.

We deliberately choose not to be constrained by existing service models and funding programs directed at providing services to homeless people. We acknowledge both the strengths and weaknesses in the existing system, but note that while it has allowed unacceptable levels of homelessness in Australia, long-term underfunding of both housing and support has been a significant contributor. We propose a focus on prevention and integrating support and housing that will provide national consistency while allowing for local strategies targeted to local needs. Mission Australia argues for a significant increase in the supply of affordable and social housing, combined with flexible support packages tailored to the individual client and their specific needs. We argue for a place based service approach that is focused on the needs and situation of the local community (including business).

The system must be dynamic and responsive in meeting the changing needs of those who are homeless at the population level as well as at the individual level. Given the breadth of issues that can contribute to homelessness, we note that not all these can or will be addressed within the NAHA. Therefore we argue targets related to ending homelessness should also be included in the social inclusion agenda and the broader COAG National Reform Agenda as well as in the performance framework for government agencies, senior positions within government and contracted services.